


Lost Yet Found

by kaboomz



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Baby Yoda - Freeform, But The Characters Aren't Mine, Din Djarin - Freeform, Even Though I considered It As Minor Gore, Eventual Force Bond, Gen, Gore, Original Story - Freeform, Star Wars - Freeform, The Unknown Regions, horror story, razor crest, unknown planet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22828903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaboomz/pseuds/kaboomz
Summary: Din Djarin and the child were stranded on a rather weird planet in The Unknown Regions. The clan of two tried to survive the dangers only to discovered the true potential of the child's Force ability and how strong their bonding really was.
Relationships: Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 31





	1. Accidents Do Happen

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing but the plot. All rights by Disney and/or George Lucas who inspired all of this.
> 
> I'm not using any betas (as always) so any grammatical mistakes, typos, or things that technical like that were entirely mine.

Din jumped in surprise from his chair when someone dropped something from downstairs inside the Crest. It sounded big and heavy, judging by how loud the sound was. He clumsily climbed downstairs with a fear of the baby might be hurt. He didn’t forget to prepare his blaster on his right hand as he landed with a silent thump beneath his feet. Somebody could be boarding his ship without him knowing.

When he looked over the dim light of the room, he realized it was the baby who accidentally dropped something. He watched the child staring at his neglected old pulse rifle on the ground. That little womp rat.

“How did you-“

He looked to his left as he noticed his weapons’ cabinet has been opened and his blasters and bombs were scattered along the corridor. Then he looked back at the kid only to found nothing from where it once stood.

“I told you to not open that cabinet!” he snapped, bending his knees as he collected the bombs and restored it back to where it belong.

Din put back the last blaster from the ground before he went around looking for his kid. He knew the baby was so curious with his weapons’ cabinet. He’d seen the curios look on those big dark eyes every time he switched his blaster or restoring it. So he knew that someday or sometime when he wasn’t around, the baby would sneak around to check on it even though most of the time it’s locked.

Before anything bad could happen to them, he warned the baby not to touch anything near his weapons’ cabinet. But of course it didn’t listen to him and do whatever it wanted. And that Force magic within its hands weren’t much of a help either.

“Kid?” he called, lowering his torso just to take a better look underneath his things.

Before he even reached the flattened ramp, the ship suddenly shook violently. The warning alarm was buzzing loudly throughout the ship and he was thrown to the side of the corridor. Oh shit not again.

“Kid! Stop-“

When he finally grabbed the stairs with his gloved hand, Din swiftly climbed his way to the controller room and found the child playing with the hyperdrive’s lever. He noticed the hyperdrive system’s buttons have been activated. His face paled as he realized the kid has input random coordinate into the Crest. He didn’t get the chance to grabbed the baby when his child pulled the Crest into a hyperspace.

The stars started to get blurry and stretched out long when Din was busy flicking off the warning button and setting out his controller right. The hyperspace couldn’t be undone, sadly. The baby cooed happily when he noticed his father’s presence.

“Why aren’t you sleeping? I told you to sleep and you didn’t listen,” Din spoke under his helmet. It came out harsh and scary to the little one’s ear.

The child cooed in fear as its eyes started to get watery. Its ears were flipped downward, an act every time it feel upset or sad. This time it’s both, Din guessed. “You just made us flew to nowhere and- oh of course it’s on the Unknown Regions! Didn’t you know we barely have enough fuel to go anywhere? And you set the coordinate to Star knows where and-“

Din was barking behind his helmet at this moment. He picked the baby up and set it beneath the controller’s chair. He checked the engine and their fuel tank, cursing roughly when he did remember their fuel supply correctly; they indeed got no fuel left to go back.

The kid cooed again, lips still trembling out of Din’s harsh words. It sounded like a way of comforting. Maybe it tried to point out about the engine being a no problem.

“That doesn’t make anything better and you know that,” Din replied, somehow understanding what the kid’s saying.

When they arrived at the coordinate the kid accidentally set up, Din saw a large dark planet through his cockpit’s window. Din stared at it for a moment, feeling weird senses when he did it. The planet looked off and somehow…sick.

He then surfed through his database planet, intended to find a planet with similar backgrounds as the one in front of the Crest. The kid, still standing beside Din’s chair, cooed out of discomfort. Din ignored it.

He admitted that the Unknown Regions was something, well, unknown. But he traveled to a lot of places and planets. And he noticed there are some kind of similarity on each planet to another. But this one planet, it’s truly and utterly unknown. Not one planet on his database matched some similarities with the new one he just discovered.

He drove closer to the planet and he let the Crest examined the atmosphere on the planet. Din was baffled because despite the dark fog that covered the whole area, the planet was air-friendly and rich with clean water. A slight hope grew inside Din. Maybe something or someone lived inside the planet. And maybe they would help them with the fuel.

The kid cooed louder, this time it caught Din’s attention successfully. “What?”

The kid pulled on Din’s fabric pants as it whined, asking for something Din couldn’t quite understand. Din sighed and lifted the kid. He climbed downstairs and placed the kid inside their little cot.

“Look, I’m sorry I yelled at you. But you can’t do something like that. Weapons are dangerous, it could get you hurt. I don’t want you to get hurt,” Din bent his knees to leveled with the baby as he spoke.

“And I told you numerous times to not touch the panels or everything inside the controller room. Look where did you send us to,” Din continued, grabbing the blanket behind his child and rubbed the cloth softly onto the kid’s wide eyes.

The child stayed silent, but his dark eyes staring at Din’s T-visor. Din felt something weird behind those curious looks.

“You didn’t like the planet?” he said, shooting a wild guess.

The child cooed excitedly, proofing to Din that’s exactly how the child felt about the newly discovered planet. Its ears lifted up like the times Din gave it bone broth or roasted frogs. Din would be lying if the child’s reaction didn’t bring a smile to his covered face.

“Yeah, well me too. But we can’t go anywhere until we get enough fuel to go back, so we don’t have a choice. Consider this as a lesson to be learned, okay?”

The kid made an unsatisfied coo as it reached his little three-fingered hand to Din, asking to be held. The child has been so clingy ever since the Armorer claimed them to be a clan of two. While Din didn’t mind the affection, he’s still feeling a lot awkward about it most of the times.

“Okay, you can come. But you stay on my lap. I still don’t trust you with the panels after what just happened.”

Din chose the west side of the planet since it’s the only territorial which wasn’t too covered with thick gray fog. The kid, grabbing on to Din’s left gloved fingers, looked at the planet’s grounding with a worried look. The planet sure was intimidating.

The grounding was entirely humid soil. And while there were no sign of trees or bushes, the air felt fresh and rather chilly. And big caves of rocks were scattered everywhere Din’s vision could reach. Yet it still felt off the first time Din laid eyes on.

Din took a moment to think what he should do next. Should he stay in for the night? Should he explore now? Should he took the baby with him or not?

To begin with, the planet didn’t have a centre star like most of the galaxies he knew. So he wasn’t sure whether it’s night or day at that moment. He thought the planet would be just like this every time; dim and chilly. But he couldn’t be too sure about that.

So Din headed back to the Crest through the ramp and set up a backpack. He put substitute blasters, ration bars, drinkable water, high-functioning binoculars, and a hand wipe. The baby waddled closer to its father and gave him the metal ball it’s so fond of to his hand.

Din looked at his kid. Did the child ask to come with him?

“I can’t put that in because you’re going to stay here. I’ll only go out for an hour or two,” he reasoned, ignoring the offered metal ball.

The baby yapping something like it’s arguing with Din and put the metal ball inside Din’s backpack itself. Din didn’t want to bring it with him because it needed to be put inside its floating crib and they’d attract attention. And that’s the least thing Din wanted to happen.

“I said no. You’re not coming with me.”

But of course like in Sorgan, the baby didn’t listen to him. It lifted one of its ear in a mischievous way and climbed inside Din’s backpack.

“What the hell are you-“

And the idea popped inside his head. It wouldn’t be too attractive if he brought the kid with him inside his backpack instead of inside the floating crib, now would it? The kid chuckled lightly when it set itself comfortable inside Din’s backpack.

“Okay then you can come with me, but you stay inside there, alright?” Din said.

The baby cooed in affirmation.

So Din grabbed another bag, a sling bag this time, and moved his properties to the sling bag. He let the kid and the metal ball stayed in the backpack. He narrowed the backpack’s lid, letting a small space for the kid to breathe, and hanged it on his shoulders.

“Is this okay, kid?” he asked as he measure the sleeves.

Another affirmative coo came out from the baby’s mouth.

Din then put on the sling bag on one of his shoulder and pushed the ramp’s button to open. “Hope this works. Because I got a bad feeling about this.”


	2. The Cave

The child was especially loud during their journey. It laughed, squealed, and gurgled. Din haven’t got the slightest idea of what his child’s doing inside his backpack, but he let the child do whatever it wanted. As long as it’s not attracting attention or inviting danger, he let his kid played and be as noisy as it could.

“We’ve walked for hours now, womp rat. Have you seen anything moving?” Din asked as he checked his gauntlet for direction.

The baby cooed. It sounded like its mouth was stuffed. Probably with the metal ball.

“Yeah, me neither,” he sighed.

Din decided to take a rest for a while. There’s a big cave in front of him. It was tall but not too deep, making it not as dark as the other caves Din had seen. It’s suitable for someone small that’s afraid of the dark, he thought. He took off his backpack with a little groan and sat on the cold soil beneath him. “You’re getting heavy,” he said.

The baby cooed lightly when Din opened the backpack’s lid, an automatic reaction every time the baby see its father’s face. Well, helmet.

Din sighed when he noticed that the baby’s face was covered with its own saliva. And don’t even mention the metal ball. It was dripping wet.

“Thank the Stars I always clean that metal ball of yours. Or else, you’ll get sick.”

Din lifted his child off from the backpack and grabbed for his hand wipe. He rubbed the soft yet worn piece of cloth to his baby, receiving a soft laugh from it. Din couldn’t help smiling under his helmet. He knew the baby got ticklish every time Din cleaned it.

But when someone – no – something appeared from the dark, Din didn’t notice it. Blaster still attached to his hips, but that something didn’t make any noises for Din to be alerted. The baby, being sensitive to anything presence, let out a discomfort squealed.

“What is it, little guy?” Din asked.

Then suddenly Din felt something that made the hair on his nape raised. It’s like someone was breathing directly behind Din’s back. And he swore, it felt so real. With the baby held within his left grip, he grabbed his blaster and pointed it to the darkness. But that’s the problem; he didn’t see anything.

If only the kid hasn’t squealed, he never knew there was any threat in front of them. He was anxious, because he trusted his child. If it felt somehow uncomfortable, then it must be something that bothered the child. It didn’t matter if Din could see it or not. There must be something.

Din stayed like that for a few moments, absorbing the situation that wasn’t quite clear for him. Blaster still strong on his hand, he kneeled and put the baby back into his backpack. It was crying out of fear and Din’s heart broke when he saw the tears rolling down its cheek.

“Don’t worry, womp rat. We’ll go. We’ll return to the Crest-“

Before Din could finish his sentence, the baby screamed disturbingly. It looked at the direction where Din had pointed his blaster before. Din cautiously turned his helmet only to saw nothing. But the scream was enough to make him grabbed his things and ran off.

The thing about his child was, it never shown any fear. Din thought it was way too small to experienced fear or it simply didn’t understand shit about being afraid. But now… Now it’s screaming its lungs out for something. His child was utterly terrified of something inside that cave. And while Din couldn’t see anything out of suspicion, he was logical enough to follow his instinct to run.

When the kid’s cries died slowly, Din slowed his steps. His breath was erratic and heavy. His throat felt dry and his knees weak. He didn’t know how far he ran, but maybe it’s far enough. He dropped to the cold soil as he checked the kid on his backpack. His child was trembling in fear and the grip within its claws were so strong. It’s still crying.

Din lifted it and rocked it back and forth, trying desperately to calmed his baby down. Okay, maybe what his kid had saw inside that cave was far worse than Din first anticipated. Din still sighed in relief, because they still managed to get out from there. Stars knew whatever the fuck inside that cave must disturbingly dangerous.

The kid’s cries showed no sign of stopping. Din must be thinking of another way to calmed his child down. He didn’t want them to attract any more attention after what just happened. Then an idea came across his head. The baby was exceptionally calm every time it saw its father’s face. Real face, without a helmet and modulated voice. The kid needed to see Din Djarin, not a Mandalorian.

He thought about the idea for a second. Sure, he’s taken off the helmet in front of the baby numerous time before. But that’s inside his Crest and nobody was watching them. Only him and his child. This circumstance was a hell lot different at the moment. Somebody could watching them without him knowing.

Oh but fuck it, the baby needed something for comfort. It’s been trough a lot and it deserved anything after that. So Din took off his helmet, smiling awkwardly when those big glassy brown eyes stared at his naked face. The baby, still teary and shaken, cooed happily.

“Hello, womp rat. It’s me, you’re save now. Nothing can hurt us,” he spoke, with his true deep voice.

The child instinctively reached for Din’s face and squealed joyfully. Din chuckled as he leaned closer, letting the kid feel his lips and cheeks. He’s aware the kid was distracted enough to forget about the terrifying thing that it saw in the cave.

“What had you seen inside that cave?” Din asked, sitting down as he reached for a ration bar.

The baby didn’t answer him, but its ears were low. Din sighed, knowing that’s probably for a later question. He tear the ration bars’ wrapping and give a little piece to the kid, which it gladly accepted. Those amount of adrenaline really made both of them hungry.

“The Crest is still to the north. Around half an hour walk. You still up for it, kid?” Din asked, mouth full with ration bars. The baby cooed, ration bars within its three-fingered claws.

“Of course you’re up for it. I’m the one that do all the walk,” Din smiled sarcastically.

The baby cheered at that. And Din couldn’t help but snuggle his baby right then and there.

Before they decided to continue their journey, Din checked his blaster first. Its ammunition was still full and perfectly working. He turned off the safety mechanism for a faster operation. If he saw anything, he’d just shot it dead in the spot. He’s become aware that maybe there’s a reason why this planet looked so off. And he noticed how there’s nothing alive he nor the baby had seen. It almost felt like it’s just the two of them inside the planet.

Well nothing except that creepy ghost inside the cave. Ghost or whatever. Din didn’t believe in anything remotely involved with ghosts or other supernatural creatures. But then again, he initially didn’t believe in Jedi and ‘the magic hand thing’. So, he couldn’t say much about ghosts at this point.

About half an hour later, Din and his kid arrived to where the Crest had landed. Only there’s no sign of the Crest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedbacks are always welcome <3


	3. Danger

Din was shocked because he knew he parked the Crest right there where he stood. He’s totally sure that he parked his Crest right there. Only it wasn’t there. Where the fuck is his Crest?

“Womp rat? I think we have a bigger problem here,” Din croaked through his throat.

He’d be lying if he didn’t want to cry. Razor Crest was his and he bought it with his own Imperial Credits. For years he tried to save his credits to get that gorgeous son of a bitch, and when he did buy it, he’s the happiest Mandalorian in the entire galaxies. He remembered all those killings, all those suffering and discomfort just to get a decent ship.

Not to mention his equipments were all there. His guns, his bed, his ration bars. Razor Crest was his home and the baby’s. And now his home was gone.

The baby opened the lid on Din’s backpack and peaked through his father’s shoulder. He cooed as he pointed to Din’s gauntlet.

“No, my gauntlet couldn’t be wrong. I-I know it wasn’t wrong. I know I saved the coordinate right,” Din stuttered.

Just when Din wanted to checked his gauntlet for the second time, something grabbed Din’s boots and pulled him inside the humid soil. He accidentally dropped his baby’s backpack as he tried to struggle free.

Din noticed that he’s making zero progress as he sank deeper to the ground. His baby cooed confusedly behind the backpack. It looked rather worried yet it didn’t know what to do about the situation. Din tried to grabbed his blaster. He intended to shot anything that dragged him without looking. He didn’t care if he hit his legs, he just wanted to be free.

The blaster was shot four times yet nothing seemed to work. Din was now half buried and he started to ran out of ideas. There’s nothing to grab. Nothing to hold on. He started to panic. If this was his end, he didn’t want it. He didn’t want the kid to witnessed its father’s end. He didn’t want to let his kid stuck in this weird ass planet alone.

By the time his neck was gone, a strange force was pulling him out of the ground. He looked up as he witnessed his child was using his ‘magic hand thing’. He observed as the baby was concentrating so hard it started to let out beads of sweat on its forehead. But that something that pulling him down was fighting back. It’ll take the child’s whole power to get him out of the disgusting soil.

Din, not knowing what to do, struggled to reach out. The more motion he made, the less stronger the grip on his legs were. Or at least that’s what he thought. When he’s half free, Din stored his blaster back to where he snatched it and kicked with all his strength to whatever creature that sank him. It’s slowly working but the baby looked too tired to hold on.

“No, kid, please hold on! Just a little more. Come on you can do it!” Din snapped.

It pained him to command the kid that way, but that’s the only way he could think of. If he couldn’t crawl free, than they’re might as well be dead. Din saw as the kid tried to stay conscious. Its little three-fingered claw trembled in exhaustion, but it tried. It tried so hard that exactly when it couldn’t bear it much longer, Din was free.

The Mandalorian didn’t take the time to celebrate. He swiftly grabbed the baby’s rob and the backpack as he ran as fast as he could. Although his legs felt a little jelly, he ran faster than he thought he could manage. A rock, little enough for Din’s panic thoughts to go unnoticed, crashed his booted toe and he painfully fell to the ground.

And this time, somehow, the ground was as hard as his beskar.

Din quickly gathered himself, the child, and his things before he latched his blaster off and pointed at anything. Anything that seemingly smelled like a threat. Only there was nothing.

Din chuckled out of disbelief; the kind of chuckle that sounded high-pitched but stern. It matched his modulated voice in an odd way. He could’ve swore there was something following them from the freaking ground.

A thug on his fabric pants kicked his hunter’s instinct as he snapped one of his leg off into the air and shot whatever latched off from his limb. An arm. An arm was grabbing his leg this whole time and he didn’t notice it.

He shot just through the three fingers from the freaky arm and when it dropped to the ground, it crawled toward him. Din didn’t have the time to be freaked out as he aimed his blaster and shot the arm 7 times. And 7 times it received the hit.

When Din was sure enough that the arm was dead (or any word with similar term), he approached it and nudged it with one of his toes. It’s heavily burnt because of the 7 shots of his blaster, but he knew it was a human limb. And judging by the size and its fingers, it’s a woman’s.

Din remembered the creature under his arm, sleeping or fainting, he didn’t know. He needed to get to safety. The baby needed to go to the safety. They needed- but there’s no safety. His ship was gone, he was shaken, the kid’s probably dead due to exhaustion and then-

No. Focus Din. You need to focus.

Din checked his baby. He checked its pulse, he observed its breath. It was okay, although it has likely fainted. Din thought it’s probably for the best because his kid didn’t need to go through the limb thing after what it saw on the cave. Stars, what it saw on that cave anyway?

“Okay, it’s getting dark. We need shelter for settling for the night,” Din said almost to himself. “We go on searching for the Crest first thing tomorrow morning.”

Shelter was hard to find because the planet contained mostly caves, caves, and more caves. And Din didn’t want to settle in a cave after he witnessed his child being that terrified over something that’s not there. But Din knew better. Sometimes threats weren’t always for your eyes to see.

So Din chose a low ground between tall caves, like a valley. It’s full of fog and the temperature was colder than the higher ground, but what the hell, Din haven’t got a better choice. He laid his baby on the ground. It’s sleeping, Din thought, because it let out the same snore every time it’s sleeping back in their Razor Crest days. That put Din on ease even just a little bit. At least the baby wasn’t hurt.

When the night came, the temperature dropped massively. Din cursed as he didn’t bring any warm cloth for him nor the child. Din took off his cape and put it around his baby as he clearly saw the baby’s visible breath in the air. It’s as thick as a steam from a machine. Din began to wonder how the hell atmosphere at this temperature didn’t produce snow-like surface.

And damn the rocks. He couldn’t build a bonfire with those, he needed branches or dry leafs to let the fire last with his flamethrower. And his legs throbbed painfully. Maybe the damn thing that was dragging him hurt his calves or something. Thank the Star it wasn’t his ankles. He couldn’t walk with sprained ankles.

Beside him, the kid squirmed softly. When Din looked at it, he saw the baby trembled in cold behind the cover. He peaked through the cover as he noticed a thin blue-ish line decorated the child’s lips. It’s not only shivering in cold, but also shivering to death. Din’s heart hurt by the view.

“Oh fuck, what should we do, womp rat?” he asked, rather to himself than to the baby about the whole damn thing. His voice sounded broken and shattered, confused and terrified.

He reluctantly took off his chest plate before he slid the child inside his clothing. Sharing their warmth skin to skin was apparently the only way to kept the baby alive from the nasty temperature.

“It’s okay, kid. I’ll make this work. I promise I’ll make it all work,” Din whispered to the crooked ear.


	4. The Voice of A Lady

The morning was, in a way, less miserable than the day before. Fresh dews were everywhere on the surface of the monochrome landscape, chilly air was somewhat relieving, and the thick fog that was covering the sky most of the time wasn’t as thick as Din remembered. Din woke up first thing with a heavy snore upon his naked chest.

Din thought he had a horrible nightmare even though he wasn’t sure what the nightmare was about. He knew that awful feeling every time he woke up with a bad dream. Sweating, slightly panting, and uneasiness. He slowly trying to reached for his bottle of water inside his sling bag only to woke the little guy up.

“Sorry, kid,” he said, smiling down to the green womp rat as he watched his child stretched its limbs out. “Have a good night’s sleep?”

The baby cooed sleepily. Its voice sounded harsh and rough.

“Yeah, well at least you’re eventually warm enough to fell asleep.”

Din grabbed the water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and gave it to the baby. He watched his child carefully as his mind drove somewhere else again. He needed a plan. Or he needed help. Whichever came the most handy. They needed at least one of them in order to escape the planet.

The kid turned out to be extremely thirsty as it emptied the water bottle in a matter of second. It burped so loudly that it shattered Din’s thought. Din looked down as the baby chuckled in surprise with how loud its burp was.

“Hey! I thought you’re going to left me some.”

The child cooed lightly. It looked around for a moment before it pointed outside, to nothing in particular. Din didn’t get a chance to questioned his baby as it wiggled from Din’s chest and waddled outside. The water bottle within its little claws. Din watched the kid approached what it turned out to be a small puddle. Apparently it rained last night, Din thought.

Din tried to restrained his laugh as he watched how his kid tried to refill the water bottle with the puddle’s water. The water went in from the small opening before the baby flipped the container over and spilled the water inside of it. The little green thing did it again and again and again but keep failing. It groaned in annoyance.

He shook his head as he decided to pack their things to move on. The soon they continued their journey the better. He checked his blaster, their supplies (mentally cursing at their shortened ration bars), and he put on back his dirty cape. Whilst he put on his sling bag, he noticed there were murals all over the tall caves that stood beside their resting place. He walked closer to one of the murals, admiring the figure and the colors, but only to realized it wasn’t just an ordinary piece of art. It’s a story.

The mural was a bit abstract that Din, at first, needed some time to understand what’s the story was about. It’s about the arrival of three creatures on a place, presumably the planet where Din and his child was forced to land to. Each of the creature had a white haggard face and strangely tall-like figure. They’re wearing all black robes and seemed somehow… supernatural. They’re almost looked like entities rather than creatures.

Din followed the mural as the plot thickened. The entities were meditating in circle for days and nights before one of them turned into a dark shadowy figure with red hot eyes. The turned entity attacked its closest friend and devoured it, only to turned into something more hideous.

Din shivered as he imagined something so awfully sinister actually existed in this realm. The mural told Din that the hideous entity grew bigger and its face… Oh Stars, its face was heavily turned into something disturbingly long and thin. Its chin was elongated until reaching its fat abdomen and its limbs were thinner than branches but sharper than razors.

The last remaining entity tried to attack his disfigured friend but it picked the wrong move. The hideous entity enraged by the attack and sliced its friend’s chest with his razor-sharp limb and something came out from the wound. A crystal with unique colors like a nebula or cosmos that Din had saw during his bounty hunter times.

Din moved furthermore to see what’s happening next only to found nothing. The mural stopped abruptly from there and there’s nothing more to tell. Din was left with confusion. What had happened? Was this story real? Was it based on someone else’s experience? Or was it pure fiction drew by someone with overreacting fantasy?

“Womp rat, let’s go. We’re going-“

Din couldn’t see his child near the puddle. In fact, the kid was nowhere near the puddle at all. There were no sign of footprints either. Just a lonely water bottle floating on the surface of the clear puddle. And a panic Mandalorian shouting for his foundling.

“Kid? Kid! Where are you?” the Mando called, voice choking at the sudden tension on his throat.

Din then looked around further. His boots was stomping hard to the cool soil as he searched aggressively for his youngling. Under the rocks, inside the caves, still nothing. He started to sweat and his breath grew short every minutes passing. Where the fuck was his kid?!

His shouting became pain because his throat couldn’t bare the scratching any longer. His voice sounded rough and it’s missing it’s ability to make coherent noises. Din swore he tasted iron on the base of his throat.

Think cool now, Din had thought. _Think cool_!

Din then went back to the puddle, filled the empty container, and put it back inside his sling back. The kid couldn’t be that far, now could it? Its legs barely half from Din’s calves and those tiny toes couldn’t walk thousands miles in a matter of minutes. Or was it really minutes when Din was looking on the murals? Or was it really the kid who ran off all on itself? Did someone took it? Did _something_ took it?

Everything seemed to be possible in this hellish planet. Ghosts. Creepy crawling limbs. Entities. Weird weather. Nightmares. Ships disappeared into thin air. Zero living creatures. Din was a mess after his energy emptied by his anxieties and worries. He couldn’t find his kid and the tears… He didn’t spill some, but his throat felt awfully tight. Too tight, it felt like he’s trying to swallow the world.

There’s no time to cry. He just needed to search. He needed to keep looking for the little green youngling before anything could hurt it.

After he was 100% sure he has the grip of himself, he decided to take off searching. His feet felt jelly-like and it felt funny; as if he didn’t step on the ground at all. He felt weak and yet he kept walking. To where, he didn’t know. He just needed something to do, something that would take his minds off of the deeper and scarier thoughts that’d drive him mad.

Oh, how he wish he had his friends with him right that moment. Cara, Omera, Greef. He didn’t have many, but those were the ones he considered friends. They knew what to do in times like these. They’d tell Din what to do instantly. He felt horribly helpless alone, really helpless.

The walk could be hours or it could be just minutes, Din couldn’t care less. The landscape wasn’t familiar anymore so he probably was far away from his resting place. His skin felt sticky and comfortable behind the shining beskar steel. He felt dirty and in desperate need of cold shower. Showers always succeeded on cooling him down.

_Relax and take a deep breath, kind man._

Din’s low head jerked at the sudden voice inside his ears.

_Do it and you shall earn peace within. Peace is all you need to reunite yourself with your son._

“Wh-wait- What the hell?” Din barked as he knocked his helmet off in an attempt to stopped the voice. It’s useless, he knew, but that’s apparently the only thing that crossed his mind.

The female voice sounded so… gentle and surprisingly comforting. It’s just the fact that it spoke right inside Din’s head that the man kind of freaked out for a moment. It echoed throughout his hearing as he prepared the blaster on his hip. If somebody was playing with him, this was such a good time to reveal themselves. He’s pissed, worried, and fed up with everything that’s been going on. He felt like killing a bastard.

“Who are you? Where’s my kid?” Din spoke loudly, making sure that whoever’s out there could hear him.

_Whatever it is you’re thinking, I mean no harm. Your son is in great danger and you must find him soon._

“How?” the modulated voice sounded dark but fragile at the same time.

_Meditate. Silence your mind. You are both connected in a way you can’t imagine._

The voice made Din flashbacked to what had The Armorer once said. His kid possessed such power only Jedi could pull through. The Force, she said. And even by the Jedi standard, the little guy was extremely powerful. That amazed Din but at the same scared him. Not because the kid could hurt him, but the people who’d hurt to get to his son. Din was so accustomed to a society where those who’s powerful will be hunted down.

He knew how the system worked like he knew his weapons. And even on this weird ass planet, the system was still the same.

“What do you mean connected?” Din asked again.

The voice didn’t say anything further. Its presence was also gone, Din noticed. He couldn’t describe it, but it’s no longer there the way it greeted Din so suddenly just a moment ago.

“Hello? Lady?”

The Mandalorian switched his vision into heat sensor and he was so astonished by how all of his surrounding were all colors of blue and red. While it’s not in the form of footprints but a smoke, that still meant the voice was an actually living thing, not just a voice on his head. He’s so glad that he hasn’t gone crazy.

Whatever the lady smoke told him, he intended to do what she told him to do. It did sound absurd and time wasting, but he hasn’t got the slightest idea of how to begin searching for his kid. He had zero lead and meditation seemed to be a good way to calm his nerve down. It wouldn’t hurt to try, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shits about to get real y'all fasten your seatbelt
> 
> Btw, I tend to post once a week. So, I apologize if I don't. Feedbacks are deeply appreciated <3


	5. A Bad Dream

Meditate wasn’t a very Mandalorian thing to do, but that didn’t mean they’re not familiar with such activity. In fact, Din had interest in doing such thing in his early ages, but only received mockery along his creed. So, he decided to forget about his interest and moved on. That didn’t mean he’s not interested anymore in meditation, though.

Din felt awkward when he get down and crossed his legs as he put his gloved hands on his knees. He had no idea of how to place his hands, so he just gripped his knee bones. He tried to sit as comfortable as he could, ignoring the feeling of how tired and dirty he was.

 _How does this goes again? Control your breath? I think so._ Din had thought.

The beskar plate felt somehow lighter when he inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. The itches on his bruised legs eased every second passing. His mind went quieter and smoother; he heard a song inside his brain. Or at least that’s what he thought. A humming of a long forgotten tune. He felt incredibly still and peaceful.

His forehead furrowed behind his helmet as he tried to concentrate his mind. He wasn’t sure to concentrate on what, but he tried to gather his thoughts into one and just focus on it singularly.

The humming slightly turned into a cry. Din soon realized it was his kid’s cry. His breath hitched uncomfortably. There’s no vision on his mind, but he recognized his kid’s presence anywhere.

 _Kid._ His thoughts whispered to no one. _Kid!_

If the little green guy heard its father, it didn’t show any kind of reaction. Its cries died down as its strength began to wear off. Din wanted to screamed once more to his ward, but he seemed like to loose his strength as well. He realized he’s now soaked in his own sweat under the clothing. He felt weak and ten times tired than before.

But Din didn’t make any plan to back off. He found his kid and he intended to get it back. So he grabbed every ounce of his strength and used it to focus on his concentration. The kid’s presence began to disappeared. If the connection was a knot, then the knot was starting to loosened. Din hold the knot as tight as he could and screamed, _WOMP RAT!_

**GET OUT!**

Something pushed Din through his chest plate with such a great power that he was thrown 5 meters back. His chest ached as he regained his conscious back. He touched his chest plate, found not one single sign of damage. What the _hell_ was that?

His bounty hunters years taught him that only certain type of guns could throw a Mandalorian that far. And if it’s indeed guns, it’d most certainly leave a mark or damage. But not this time.

 _It wasn’t a gun. And someone was there with my child._ Din spoke to himself.

Little things started to cleared Din’s foggy mind. Someone took his child and judging by his meditation, they’re powerful and dangerous. The mysterious voice of a lady was right. They did have a connection although Din wasn’t fully understand what that was or how it worked. They just somehow connected.

The sky went dark minutes after Din sort his mind out. He decided to rest in for the day and tried to get as comfortable as he could. That night wasn’t as extreme as the other night he’s experienced. The stars were actually light up Din’s vision better than his visor. The air was cool, but warm enough for his liking. He laid there, his masked face facing the great and vast universe.

He thought about the baby. He tried to calm himself down with the fact that his kid was still alive and hopefully warm enough with this temperature. He thought about how that big dark eyes staring at the same sky he’s staring and plead for help. Din felt like he’s crying, but he’s not. He wanted to, hoping it would release some of the stress. But he couldn’t. He’s too tired to cry, and too furious to sleep.

“Oh if only I had half the power you possessed, kid,” he sighed, cursing mentally for being such a weak and pathetic human being.

_You don’t need that. All you need to do is practice._

Din’s tired body jerked at the sudden voice. That voice again. The lady’s voice. Soothing but strong, like his mother’s. Or so he remembered.

“Practice for my meditation?” Din croaked out.

_Indeed. Your mind is strong, like the young one. Practice is all you need..._

“He’s in danger. I can feel it. Someone took him and they threw me like I was nothing,” Din murmured in anger. His voice vibrated roughly behind the suffocating steel.

_Anger wouldn’t help you, kind man. Because they feed on it._

Din felt like he’s floating at this time. Did he fell asleep? Was it just his dream? Or the fatigue made him feel this way?

“My anger?” he soon asked.

_Yes. Also your fear, your confusion, and your desperation. They could turn the situation as easy as you turn the back of your hand if you feed them._

“Who’s they? Who took my child?”

Like their last encounter, the lady left without a sign. She left Din alone once again in darkness. The presence was also gone. Din didn’t need to switch his vision this time because he’s sure that the lady’s presence was most definitely there. Only why in the world did she leave when he’s starting to get deeper on their situation?

Was she scared of something? Was she setting a trap? Did he trust her?

What’s certain was the fact that Din didn’t trust the bastard who took his child. If the kid didn’t look like in a piece, Din would’ve hunt them down without sleep. He didn’t care about his health nor his sanity, he must retrieved what’s his.

But the child was crying. And Din knew better it wasn’t a cry of pain. It’s cry of fear and sadness. The baby must’ve been very scared at whatever took it, which brought a pinch of gladness in the Mandalorian’s heart. He really couldn’t handle the fact that if, somewhere on this cursed planet, his kid was hurting.

At some point, Din must’ve been falling asleep because he felt like he’s dreaming. He’s with the little guy back on Sorgan now. The humid yet fresh air was so familiar to Din’s liking. He could hear the kid’s light laugh behind him. His little toes were trying so hard to chase a butterfly, only to stumbled upon a thick branch and fell.

Din got down on his knees and grabbed the baby on his gloved hands. “Are you okay?”

The youngling seemed fine. He ignored Din’s question after noticing that the butterfly it’s chasing before rested on its father’s helmet. Its little three-clawed hands reaching to the air, only to scared the butterfly away.

“Answer me when I asked you a question, kid!”

Din could feel the hotness on his chest when he barked at the kid. The hotness he felt when he knew his parents were dead. The hotness he felt when he realized he brought trouble into his sacred creed. The hotness he felt when he knew his kid wasn’t safe. The hotness of rage.

But why would he feel rage? The child has done numerous inadequate things, yet he still be patient with it. He never enraged the kid, he only taught discipline. The Mandalorians taught him that rage and violence wasn’t a very effective way to raise a foundling. Ignoring him over one simple question didn’t deserve such rage on his marrow.

He then slapped the kid hard on its face. Din’s real body jerked in his sleep, feeling that light burning feeling on his palm. The kid cried aloud, surprised at the sudden violence it received. Its father never strike it, even in anger. Never in anger. Only an act of discipline, but was it for discipline? Was it needed to be that hard for a discipline?

The real Din mouthed _wake up_ non-stop in his sleep, as if his words would be granted like a prayer. His lips trembled in fear under the beskar steel. He knew this was all just a dream, a bad one. But why couldn’t he wake up? He spilled a tear out of desperation because now he, the Din on his dream, started choking his child.

_Oh stars please stop. Stop this horrible thing, please._

“Answer me, you fucking useless creature!”

A slap and the grip within his hands, the one that his but not also his, tightened.

_Stop! Din! Fucking stop! You’re killing him!_

“I should’ve left you with the Imps. They’ll let you suffer and die!”

A slap again. The kid started to see dark twinkling stars on its vision as the man he trusted so much slowly taking the life out its breath. The real Din panicked. His eyes dancing in panic under the closed lids. The sweat under his clothing made him felt like he’s drowning. Drowning in panic. The kid was dying and he’s the one that caused it.

_Stop! Wake up! Wake up Din!_

Din struggled so hard to make himself conscious. He tried to kick the air, he screamed through his silent throat, he reached onto something. Anything to made him wake up even just momentarily. It felt so hard and heavy, as if something was making him frozen in his sleep.

_Wake up Din Djarin! I said WAKE UP!_

The influence on Din’s body appeared to be beaten. He slapped open his teary eyes and snapped his head out of the ground. He desperately opened his helmet because, like the child in his dream, he too was suffocating. He threw the helmet far away and inhaled as much oxygen as his lungs could allow him.

He did it. He woke up from the monstrous dream. And thank the Stars it was all just a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter was like a roller coaster ride. I know I promise you a once-a-week-update and social distancing didn't make it any less easier. I dunno why! I'm always at home 24/7 but the words aren't just there for me to write down. So I deeply apologize!
> 
> Anyway I hope you like this one. I know the last part would be pretty hurting, because I was hurting too when I wrote it. And stay safe everyone! We can beat this pandemic if we stay home, following our government's rule, and stay healthy and clean.
> 
> Until next time.


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